The Citizens Theatre and Traverse Theatre each receive 6 nominations

2013 CATS Awards will be presented on Sunday 9 June 2013 as part of the Traverse Theatre’s 50th anniversary celebration.

The shortlists for the 2013 Critics’ Awards for Theatre on Scotland were announced today, 9 May 2013. Now in their 11th year, the prestigious CATS recognise the vibrancy and quality of theatre produced in Scotland. The 2013 nominations range from large-scale productions to solo performances and encompass both theatre-based and site-specific work. No fewer than 27 different productions staged across Scotland from Shetland to the Borders have made the CATS shortlists this year underlining the calibre of the work being produced throughout the country.

“This has been a terrific year for some of Scotland's best-known theatre companies, with the Lyceum, the Citizens, the National Theatre of Scotland and the Traverse leading a very strong field,” says CATS co-convenor, Joyce McMillan. “There are signs that the trend towards co-productions between major companies is producing shows of outstanding scale and quality.”

“It's also a real pleasure, though, to be able to welcome many newcomers to the 2013 nominations list, including the Gilded Balloon in Edinburgh, Random Accomplice in Glasgow, the new Firebrand Theatre Company based in the Borders, and the brilliant dance artist and theatremaker Claire Cunningham. With more than twenty companies represented on our nominations list - and work performed everywhere from Brae in Shetland to Hawick in the Borders - we are delighted to be able to reflect the astonishing diversity and range of Scotland's theatre scene, and the growing importance of new work in our theatre life.”

"Almost half of our 2013 nominations involve brand new work created by Scottish-based theatre artists over the last year. That is a tremendous tribute to the vitality of Scotland's theatre scene, and to its terrific future potential."

"We are delighted that this year’s CATS Awards ceremony will be staged at the Traverse Theatre as part of its 50th anniversary celebration,” says CATS co-convenor, Mark Fisher. “The Traverse has been a trailblazer in commissioning and showcasing new work from Scottish playwrights over the half a century. It is no coincidence that three of the nominations for Best New Play in the 2013 CATS should be Traverse productions or co-productions.”

"We are also grateful to the ongoing support of our sponsors who help us to recognise publicly the breadth of work created by so many dedicated professionals here in Scotland.”

"In our 50th anniversary year, we are delighted to be playing host to this year’s CATS Awards, which honour the sheer quality and diversity of Scottish theatre,” says Orla O'Loughlin, Artistic Director of the Traverse Theatre. “The celebration of exciting theatrical voices has been key to the Traverse for fifty years, and in playing an integral part of this year’s event, we herald the next fifty years of supporting new and innovative theatrical talent.”

Eight acclaimed actors in the frame for Best Performance Awards

The 2013 nominations see eight leading actors shortlisted. Maureen Beattie, (Narrator in The List), Blythe Duff (Fay Black in Iron) and Amy Manson (Nora Vaughan in A Doll's House) all secure their second CATS nomination this year. They are joined by Eileen Walsh (Sandra in Quiz Show) as nominees in the Best Female Performance category. Meanwhile, Alan Cumming gets a nomination for the National Theatre of Scotland's one-man Macbeth, now playing in New York, alongside Gerard Murphy (Krapp in Krapp's Last Tape), Grant O'Rourke (Mike Daisey in The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs) and Iain Robertson (Eddie in Takin' Over the Asylum) for Best Male Performance.

Dominic Hill becomes CATS most recognised director

Dominic Hill becomes the most recognised director since the establishment of CATS securing a further two nominations this year. Hill is shortlisted in the Best Director category alongside Stewart Laing (The Maids), Rachel O’Riordan (The Seafarer) and Hamish Pirie (Quiz Show), and his production of Krapp’s Last Tape makes the shortlist for Best Production.

Theatre for children and young people continues to inspire

The shortlist for this year’s Best Show for Children and Young People Award once again demonstrates the importance that Scotland puts on inspiring new generations of theatre-goers. The NTS’s The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish is shortlisted alongside, The Incredible Adventures of See Thru Sam (Random Accomplice), Sonata for a Man and a Boy (Greg Sinclair and macrobert) and The Ugly Duckling (a co-production between The Arches and Catherine Wheels).

Five nominees for Best Production

Such was the calibre of the work created in 2013 that the CATS judging panel has taken the rare step of including five productions on the short list for Best Production. Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s staging of

Irving Berlin's White Christmas: The Musical is joined by the Citizens Theatre Company’s Krapp's Last Tape/Footfalls, Stellar Quines’ The List, Traverse Theatre Company’s Quiz Show and Perth Theatre’s The Seafarer.

The 2013 Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland were open to any professional theatre work produced in Scotland between May 1 2012 and 30 April 2013. Around 180 new productions that opened in the year were considered for the Awards, of which 106 were new plays/scripts and 36 productions created for children and young people. 27 different productions have made this year’s shortlists. For full short lists see Notes for Editors.

The 2013 CATS Awards will be presented at the Traverse in Edinburgh on the afternoon of Sunday 9 June. Tickets priced £15 (includes glass of fizz in the bar before the ceremony, the CATS Awards presentation - with celebrity host - and post ceremony party marking the Traverse Theatre’s 50th anniversary) available in person at the Box Office, by telephone on 0131 228 1404 and online at www.traverse.co.uk

For further information the Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland visit: